The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BOTH semifinals went the distance as an exciting season in the New Providence Women's Basketball Association (NPWBA) will climax with a repeat of last year's championship series. The defending champion Four J's Cheetahs will again square off against the Bommer G Angels in this year's best-of-five series scheduled to begin at DW Davis gym Tuesday night. The Cheetahs clinched game three with a tough 80-77 win over the Johnson's Lady Truckers. Veteran forward Anastacia Sands-Moultrie led the Cheetahs with a double double - 20 points and 22 rebounds. The Truckers were led by Shantell Rolle's 20 points while Latoya Rolle finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds. The Truckers took the opening game of the series but were unable to close the door on the defending champions who came back to win consecutive games. The Cheetahs remained alive with a 77 69 win in game two. In the other half of the bracket, the Bommer G Angels cinched the championship rematch with a 67-54 win in game three over the Super Value Cybots Queens. Suzette McKenzie led the Angels with a team high 19 points while Tracey Lewis led the Cybots Queens with 22. The Angels took game one but the Cybots Queens rebounded to win game two and extend the series with a 58-46 win. This years championship will be another chapter in what has quickly become the league's most heated rivalry. The Angels claimed the 2010 title in the first championship meeting between the two but were upended by the Cheetahs in an attempt to repeat in 2011. Both teams won their respective titles in four games in their winning season. The NPWBA this year began the practice of awarding championship rings to winning teams under the term of current president Simone Beneby. The Angels received sterling silver rings with their custom design while the Lady Cheetahs received platinum diamond encrusted rings. Beneby assured the players competing in the league this year that the champions will earn championship rings as well as an all-expense paid trip to the Bahamas Basketball Federation's National Round Robin Tournament. "We want to make it a standardized practice," Beneby said. The former assistant coach of the SuperValue Lady Cybots said she's delighted with the progress that the league has made during her tenure in office. "We are making great strides and I must give props to my hard working executive team and the coaches," she said. "They have all chipped in and made me look good as the president. Everybody is working very well in making sure that we succeed as a league."